QUINCY (WGEM) – John Wood keeps adding more talent to their volleyball program and they hit the jackpot with a recent Blazer signee.

Quincy High School’s Ayanna Douglas will be sporting green and yellow this fall. In her senior year, Douglas had 181 kills, 172 digs, and 34 aces.

Douglas will be joining a big freshmen class looking to make a difference under their new head coach, Nick Pudlowski.

“I want to accomplish a team that is strong,” said Douglas. “I want to impact the team in a positive manner, I want to be there for my teammates and I want to be the person that can always be leaned on. Quincy prepared me because I will be playing with girls that I played with here, so I will be able to further my connection with them and play at a higher level.”

It was a hard process for Douglas to choose what college to play for, but she said family guided her to make this decision.

“It’s pretty relieving,” said Douglas. “I had a whole season where I was stressed about where to go. But then I was shown by my people where to go, they showed me that family is where I belong.”

Copyright 2025 WGEM. All rights reserved.

The562’s baseball coverage in 2025 is sponsored by the Millikan, Long Beach Poly, Lakewood and Wilson baseball boosters.

The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.

The Long Beach Poly baseball program played each of their CIF-SS Division 5 games in the utmost dramatic fashion. Their quarterfinal against Camarillo was no different, as the Jackrabbits took the game through eight innings with the Scorpions.

After two consecutive walk-offs helped Poly advance, their season came to an end when Camarillo beat the Jackrabbits on a “balk-off.” The Scorpions brought home the winning run when Poly’s pitcher did not come completely set in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing Camarillo to take the game in a 4-3 final score.

“We played really good, we’re proud of it, but we just lost off a small margin today,” Poly head coach Solomon Williams said. “I know that we were a better team today than we were at any point throughout the season, and that’s always what we hope to create.”

Despite four hours of travel via bus, the Jackrabbits looked ready to go at game time. They got their first two men on base and got the scoring going early when Deven Munoz roped a double to score both runs. 

This energy carried over to the second inning, starting with Daylen Carey’s leadoff single. Carey stole second and was moved to third on a bunt from Fausto Gaxiola III before he was brought home by Izaiyah Gutierrez. 

“We’ve been building up to get off hot like that, which we haven’t really done all year, so we were happy with that,” Williams said. 

The momentum seemed to be in Poly’s favor, as Camarillo couldn’t get anything going for them in the first two innings. The Jackrabbits tried to continue pressing in the third, but back-to-back pick offs put a stent in their efforts. 

“We made some mistakes in the third inning, and then we got beat on our approach,” Williams said. 

There was no more action from either team until the fifth inning when the home team came alive. The Scorpions only had two hits through the previous four innings, but added a third when Austin Phenix led off with a single to left field.

Three consecutive RBIs allowed Camarillo to tie it up. Back-to-back RBI doubles from Blaise Meylemans and Brayden Smith brought in the first two runs, and Travis Wade capped off the third run with a single to right field.

Poly was able to limit the damage to three runs when the next two batters grounded and flew out, respectively. However, the teams were now tied 3-3 going into the final two innings.

Some terrific defensive plays and strikeouts kept each side at bay through the next 12 outs. Carey, who started on the bump for the Jackrabbits, sent his team into extra innings with a strikeout against Smith to end the seventh.

“DC [Carey] has obviously been our horse the entire year,” Williams said. “When I first got here, he told me that he was going to do exactly what he did the whole year. We’re super proud and impressed from him.”

The Jackrabbits went down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, looking to take the field and keep their season alive. The Scorpions managed to get a guy on after Nate Escobar hit a one-out double to center field that couldn’t be caught despite Antonio Yepez’s diving efforts.

A ground out to shortstop moved Escobar to third and left Poly with one more out to go before they could hit again. Carey maxed out on his pitches through 7.2 innings, forcing the Jackrabbits to bring in Damian Marquez.

The junior came into a tough spot but did well to get ahead of the final batter with a 1-2 count. On the ensuing pitch, the home plate umpire stepped out from behind the plate and pointed at the mound to signal a balk.

He then signaled Escobar to come home, which proved to be the game-winning run for the Scorpions, and set off a celebration at home plate. With this win, Camarillo advances to the CIF-SS Division 5 semifinals. 

CHELMSFORD – Edgar Valdez has been the Chelmsford High boys volleyball coach since 2018.

Over his eight years he’s been blessed to coach loads of outstanding players, but he’s never had a star go on to play at the collegiate level.

Until now.

And senior Liam Quinn is not only going to continue to play after high school, he has earned a partial scholarship at Division 1 Merrimack College.

On top of that, the 6-foot-3 left-handed outside/middle hitter didn’t start playing until his freshman year.

“I only tried out because I wanted to do a spring sport,” he said. “I just liked it so much that I decided that I wanted to focus solely on that sport. I tried (indoor) track my sophomore year but didn’t like it as much as I like volleyball.  I used to play football and basketball, but I just liked volleyball too much.”

Quinn is making the leap to the collegiate level because he’s the best player in program history. He has broken the all-time marks in kills and aces in a career and is closing in on 1,000 total points between aces, kills and blocks.

“He’s just a force at the net with blocking and hitting,” said Valdez. “He’s got an incredible serve. He goes back there and sometimes he goes on some runs which really help us. The thing I like most about him is he is a competitor and just likes to play. He loves to play, but loves to win and hates to lose.”

Quinn has been a huge factor in the Lions’ 15-3 record and No. 11 state ranking. And that comes after starting the season banged up.

“He fractured his foot (playing volleyball in the summer) before our season started and didn’t get a chance to practice or play with us until a few days before our first game,” said Valdez. “He’s come back, looked pretty good and has gotten better as the season has gone by.”

On the season, Quinn has 335 kills, 118 digs, 49 blocks and 64 aces.

Last year, as a Sun All-Star, he finished in the state’s top 10 in kills with 306, while he added 94 digs, 35 aces and 28 blocks. His top performance came against Lowell, one of the state’s top programs. In the Lions’ first win over the Red Raiders since 2021, Quinn finished with 26 kills, 10 blocks and ten digs.

He said learning the game, and learning how to hit the ball properly and with force, was easy.

“I had played baseball and football growing up, so I just had to copy that same arm motion from baseball,” he said, noting that his father Chuck played football at WPI, his mother Carolyn played tennis at Assumption, and his two younger brothers Dillan and Shane play baseball and lacrosse, respectively.

“I just developed more techniques from there. If you know how to throw a ball overhand, (hitting a) volleyball is easy to pick up. It’s just the timing that’s harder to get (acclimated to),” added Quinn.

Quinn’s excellence goes well beyond the volleyball court. He’s a member of the National Honor Society, plans on majoring in biology with thoughts of either becoming a doctor or doing research, and he’s also a part of the school’s Acca Pella Group, which has made it to the regional semifinals each of the past three years.

“I’ve been singing as long as I can remember. I love music and it was my first passion, even before volleyball,” he said.

He’s hoping to be singing a winning tune when the state tournament begins next week.

“We can go as far as we want to. It’ll take the metal part of the game to bring us down. If we can stay up with the mental part of the game and keep our energy up, we can (advance) as far as we want,” said Quinn.

CARLSBAD, Calif. — The No. 4 Texas Men’s Golf team carded a 3-under-par 285 on Friday to rest in a tie for second place after the opening round of the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa. Junior Tommy Morrison posted a 5-under 67 on Friday and is tied for second place in the individual standings, just one stroke off the lead after the first 18 holes.

In addition to Morrison’s performance, the Longhorns also counted scores in the opening round from junior Luke Potter (1-under 71), sophomore Jack Gilbert (even-par 72) and freshman Daniel Bennett (3-over 75).

“Going out in the afternoon, you’re going to deal with some wind. I thought our guys did a really fine job staying present and getting off to a good start,” Texas head coach John Fields said. “We kind of maintained that through the difficult holes. At the end, we maybe dropped a couple shots that in retrospect could have held on to or possibly could have gone the opposite direction. I’m happy with how our guys played today.”

No. 6 Oklahoma tallied an 8-under 280 and owns a five-stroke lead in the team standings after the first 18 holes. The Longhorns are one of three teams that are tied for second at 3-under 285, including No. 7 Florida and No. 9 Florida State. An additional trio of teams including No. 1 Auburn, No. 5 Arizona State and No. 12 Illinois are tied for fifth at 2-under 286.

Texas A&M’s Phichaksn Maichon holds the 18-hole individual lead after carding a 6-under 66 on Friday. Morrison and Carter Loflin of Georgia are tied for second at 5-under 67, and there is a group of eight golfers who are tied for fourth at 4-under 68.

“Everything was pretty solid today and I kept it right in front of me,” Morrison said. “It wasn’t necessarily all out of the middle of the face, but it was going where I was looking for the most part. I made some nice putts early which was important, as you need to get off to a good start here. I played with nice freedom.”

The 2025 NCAA Championships continue with stroke play for all 30 teams on Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25. In Saturday’s second round, the Longhorns will be paired again with Oklahoma and Arizona State, and tee times will begin at 8:52 a.m. CT (6:52 a.m. PT) from hole 10.

The field will be cut to the top 15 teams following Sunday’s third round. The fourth and final round of stroke play is set for Monday, May 26, and the individual NCAA champion will be crowned following the completion of 72 holes of stroke play.

The top eight teams following Monday’s final round of stroke play will advance to the NCAA Match Play Championships. Quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on Tuesday, May 27, while the NCAA Championship match is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28.

The Lineup

• Junior Tommy Morrison fired a 5-under 67 in the opening round and is tied for second in the individual standings, just one stroke off the lead. Starting on hole 1, Morrison tallied six birdies (holes 1, 2, 6, 9, 10 and 11) against just one bogey (hole 4) on Friday.
• Junior Luke Potter carded a 1-under 71 on Friday and is tied for 25th place. Potter was 2-over through his opening four holes, but rallied to record back-to-back birdies on 5 and 6 to get back to even-par. After a bogey on 8, he posted three-straight birdies on holes 9, 10 and 11 to climb to 2-under. Potter made six-straight pars before a bogey on the closing 18th hole.
• Making his NCAA Championship debut, sophomore Jack Gilbert recorded an even-par 72 in his opening round and is tied for 39th. Gilbert tallied three birdies (holes 1, 2 and 10) on Friday.
• Also making his NCAA Championship debut, freshman Daniel Bennett registered a 3-over 75 on Friday and is tied for 79th. He carded a pair of birdies (holes 2 and 18) in his opening round.
• Junior Christiaan Maas posted a 6-over 78 in his opening round and is tied for 130th. Maas recorded an eagle on the par-five 6th hole and a birdie on hole 10.